Heat Pumps 10:00 Friday 12th

Organised by: Academic Partner: Principal Sponsor: Student Bursary Sponsor:

 AECB Conference June 12th 2009

Example
Heat
Pump
5kW 7kW to house
extracted At 40°C
from ground
at 5°C
2kW electrical input

Useful heat output = extracted heat + electrical input

Coefficient of Performance, COP = Heat output = 7 kW = 3.5

Power input 2 kW
John Cantor
Sankey diagram
Heat Pump, COP4

Extracted heat from ambient

75%
Useful heat

100%
Electrical input

25%
 Variations in Efficiency
Variation in Coefficient of Performance (COP) with heated water
temperature

4.5
COP (efficiency ratio)

3.5

2.5

2
30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65
Heated Water temperature. °C

Glycol at 0°C Spring water at 7°C

www.heatpumps.co.uk
Types of heat pump
Ground Source heat pump
•Horizontal trench
•Vertical borehole
•Ground water source
Air Source
•External air
•Ventilation air

Uses for heat :

•Underfloor heating
•Radiators
•Domestic hot water (DHW)
Horizontal
collectors
Boreholes

• Hot water (DHW)

• Underfloor heating

• Borehole 100m deep

Calorex Heat Pumps Ltd.

 Ground
water

•Spring water often at 10°C all year

•Can be pumped directly through heat pump if non corrosive
•Certain heat pumps can tolerate corrosive water
•Very high efficiencies can be achieved
•Can be used with horizontal-trench pipe work
Ground source heat pump units

Kensa
Calorex
Hot water cylinder, buffer cylinder & heat pump unit
 IVT
Nibe
Direct expansion unit (DX),
Hydrocarbon refrigerant.

Neura , Austria.
Air source heat pump
5kW Air Source. Ecodan with variable frequency compressor.
What affects the energy efficiency of a heat pump system?

•Source temperature
•Type of source
•Season of use (winter only, all year)
•Efficiency of collector

•Output temperature
•Type of emitter (radiator, underfloor etc.)
•Insulation levels
•Temperature requirements of building

•Efficiency of heat pump unit.

•Need for, and efficiency of, fans and pumps
•Backup heating
•Controls
www.heatpumps.co.uk/heatpumpcalculator.html

Heat Pump Temperature 'Lift'.

The red line represents the temperature 'lift' that the heat pump works against.
70
The shorter the line, the higher the energy efficiency

60
Temperature, Degrees Celsius

50

40

30

20

10

-10

-20
Gro und Gro und Glyco l R e f rige ra nt R e f rige ra nt H o t wa t e r E mit t e r Room
t e mpe ra t ure a ro und pipe s t e mpe ra t ure e v a po ra t ing c o nde ns ing f lo w t e mpe ra t ure t e mpe ra t ure

COP about 2
www.heatpumps.co.uk/heatpumpcalculator.html

Heat Pump Temperature 'Lift'.

The red line represents the temperature 'lift' that the heat pump works against.
70 The shorter the line, the higher the energy efficiency

60
Temperature, Degrees Celsius

50

40

30

20

10

-10

-20
Gro und Gro und Glyco l R e f rige ra nt R e f rige ra nt H o t wa t e r E mit t e r Room
t e mpe ra t ure a ro und pipe s t e mpe ra t ure e v a po ra t ing c o nde ns ing f lo w t e mpe ra t ure t e mpe ra t ure

COP about 4
 Coiled pipe
Straight pipe
Horizontal trench Ground Source

•Quick and easy

•A lot of ground has to be moved
•Big digger required
•Space required for spoil.
•Common method in Germany.
Ground Source issues

Averge monthly temperatures England and Wales

18
16
14
Air temperature
12
°C
10
Ground
8 temperature
6
Trench
4 temperature
2
0

n
g

r
ct

b
ec

Ap

Ju
Au

Fe
O

D
 Air source heat pump. COP v ambient temperature

Performance factors

6,0

35°C Main flow

5,0
55°C Main flow

4,0 60°C Main flow

epsilon / -

3,0

2,0

1,0

0,0
-20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Outside temperature/ °C

Stiebel Eltron
 Air source heat pump
Building heat loss & heat pump output.

14
12

Heat Load kW
10
8 Heat Loss
6 Heat output
4
2
0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
Outside temperature

Ground source heat pump

Building heat loss & heat pump output.

14
12
Heat Load kW

10
8 Heat Loss
6 Heat output
4
2
0
-10 -5 0 5 10 15 20
Outside temperature
 Hourly temperatures for Birmingham

35
30
25
20
15
°C
10
5
0
-5
-10
1030
1545
2060
2575
3090
3605
4120
4635
5150
5665
6180
6695
7210
7725
8240
8755
515

Hours. (1 year = 8760 hours)

 Heat Pump sizing
•Often sized closely to design heat loss
•Constant heating more common

•Sometimes sized significantly less than design heat loss

Backup energy use

(the 3rd column is only relevant
if the backup is electric)

Size of heat pump Contribution required from Seasonal

compared to backup heating Performance
design heat loss Factor (SPF)
100% 0% 3.7
90% 3.5% 3.4
80% 6.5% 3.15
60% 18% 2.5

Seasonal Performance Factor (SPF) is the average COP over the year, and includes any backup electricity used
 Performance data
Examples
Air source heat pump data
Air 7°C, water 35°C Heat output 8.96 kW
•Rated size is Heat-Output,
Power input 2.42 kW not Power-Input
COP 3.7
Air 0°C, water 35°C Heat output 7 kW
Power input 2.3 kW
COP 3.0 •This must be known
Air 0°C, water 55°C Heat output 6 kW along with the conditions
Power input 3.1 kW
COP 1.9

Ground source heat pump data

Brine 0°C, water 35°C Heat output 8.3 kW
Power input 1.8 kW
COP 4.6
Brine 0°C, water 50°C Heat output 7.8 kW
Power input 2.5 kW
COP 3.1
Backup heating
• Many heat pump units have an integral electric element
• Sometimes required for legionella protection of hot water

Other backup options:

• Boiler
• Wood

Control of Backup
Usually configured as follows:
1. Alternative Usually used with radiator in retrofit
2. Parallel Underfloor systems
3. Part parallel Large radiators or poor underfloor
Underfloor heating
Underfloor heating distribution manifold
There are normally more pipe loops
with a system designed for a heat pump.

Heat Pump design Boiler design

 The buffer tank debate
Why use buffer cylinders?
•To minimise stop/start (cycling) of the compressor
•To accommodate substandard emitter circuits

How do they affect efficiency?

•Improve compressor run duration
•Usually improve, but sometimes reduce efficiency
•Implications for circulation pump power

How can they be designed out?

•Better control of systems
•Thermal storage in emitter circuits
•Variable capacity heat pumps
The finer details

Power circulating fluids.

•Heat pumps tend to operate more continuously that conventional
systems. This is more reason to use ‘A’ rated circulators.

•Pipe diameters must be large enough so required pump pressure is

low

•The further the ground source from the heat pump unit, the larger
the pipe diameter required.

•Control systems must be designed and set correctly

 Measuring the actual heat produced

It is not easy to measure heat. This can only be done using a flow sensor and two temperature sensors.
In the past this has been expensive and/or unreliable, since flow sensors have been usually either a paddle,
or ultrasonic.

New technology from Grundfos Direct Sensors can make monitoring of heat more reliable and affordable.

Clever electronics calculates the actual water flow rate.

The actual heat (kW) is calculated from the flow rate and the temperature rise across heat pump.
This can be compared to the electricity consumption to give a instantaneous or average COP figure.
 Future developments ?

Variable speed/ variable capacity compressors

Buffer tanks ?

Expansion valves

Much better control systems required

Optimisation

No expected quantum leaps

Improvements + cost cutting = no change

As electricity supply grid improves, heat pumps become more viable